Because you asked: How did Apple Valley get its name?

The naming of Apple Valley is usually associated with Ursula M. Poates, an early booster of the community.

The origin of the name of Apple Valley is somewhat in dispute, according to “California Place Names” by Erwin Gudde and William Bright.

Poates reportedly planted three apple trees in her yard in the early 20th century to help convince prospective land-owners that fruit could be grown in the desert and is single handedly responsible for the name, according to Gudde and Bright.

But, according to Wikipedia, by 1902 the area was already known for its apples. Some orchard owners sold apple juice at stands with signs advertising "Apple Juice from Apple Valley."

Poates settled on "Apple Valley" hoping to link the name with John F. Appleton, a hero of the American Civil War. But the high-quality apples proved much more widely known than the colonel, according to “Apple Valley-Crossroads of the Desert” by Ellsworth A. Sylvester.

The Apple Valley name was officially recognized when a post office was established in 1949.

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